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Day 7: Underground Research – Continued
Social Studies, Language Arts
Title – All Aboard! Exploring the Secrets of the Underground Railroad – An Interdisciplinary Unit
Day 7 Lesson: Underground Research – Continued
Note, this is one part of a larger unit which can be found here .
By – Elizabeth Hodgson and Rachel Vogelpohl
Primary Subject – Social Studies
Secondary Subjects – Language Arts
Grade Level – 4
1.01 – Locate, in absolute and relative terms, major landforms, bodies of water and natural resources in North Carolina.
1.02 – Describe and compare physical and cultural characteristics of the regions.
1.04 – Evaluate ways the people of North Carolina used, modified, and adapted to the physical environment, past and present.
1.05 – Assess human movement as it relates to the physical environment.
3.04 – Compare and contrast ways in which people, goods, and ideas moved in the past with their movement today.
4.05 – Identify and assess the role of prominent persons in North Carolina, past and present.
English Language Arts
1.04 – Increase reading and writing vocabulary through: wide reading, word study, knowledge of homophones, synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, knowledge of multiple meanings of words, writing process elements, writing as a tool for learning, seminars, book clubs, discussions, examining the author’s craft.
2.02 – Interact with the text before, during, and after reading, listening, and viewing by:
setting a purpose using prior knowledge and text information, making predictions, formulating questions, locating relevant information, making connections with previous experiences, information, and ideas.
2.07 – Determine usefulness of information and ideas consistent with purpose.
4.10 – Use technology as a tool to gather, organize, and present information.
2.10 – Use search strategies to locate information electronically.
3.05 – Evaluate information found via telecommunications for content and usefulness.
- Life on the Underground Railroad by S. A. Kallen
- Computer with internet access
- WebQuest focus sheet
- Chart and/or construction paper to use in brainstorming
Life on the Underground Railroad by S. A. Kallen
Read Life on the Underground Railroad to help the students further visualize slaves’ experiences with the UGR. These real-life accounts of escape will be very influential in the students’ ability to sympathize and better understand the difficulties faced by travelers on the UGR.
Research Continued and Finished
Students should focus on gathering information on: names of different conductors, travel routes, forms of transportation used in particular geographic regions, weather conditions, signs and codes, particular experiences of escapees and conductors.
Information should be included in each individual’s focus sheet. Each focus sheet should have students’ notes written under each prompt.
Mapping Project (further described on Day 8)
Groups should meet to brainstorm their mapping projects. Students should use their focus sheets and the teacher-supplied list of websites to help plan the routes for their mapping project. Today, an outline and general sketch of the mapping project should be completed.
Verbal/Linguistic: (reading, discussing story, brainstorming with group members)
Interpersonal: (group work on computer, brainstorming with group members)
Note: Activity also appeals to auditory (listening to story and discussion), visual (computer research), and tactual (navigating computer keyboard/mouse) learners.
Informal assessment of students’ completed focus sheets, as students will use information from this sheet to create the mapping project.